GENEVA: The Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled to clear Russian lugers for participation in international tournament...
GENEVA: The Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled to clear Russian lugers for participation in international tournaments, the court said in a statement on Friday.
"The CAS Panel heard the argument by the FIL [the International Luge Federation] that the participation of Russian athletes would increase the risk of incidents caused by the public, or by other athletes, and that their exclusion was not meant to be a sanction based on nationality," the CAS statement reads.
"The Panel considered that the overall exclusion of Russian athletes was not a proportionate measure to achieve the only purpose sought by FIL (i.e. preserve safe racing conditions), since additional measures could be found to conciliate safety with the participation of Russian athletes," the statement continued.
"The Panel ruled that the exclusion of RLF [the Russian Luge Federation] athletes from FIL competitions is maintained, but the prohibition of Russian athletes who satisfy the criteria of AINs to compete is set aside. Consequently, the appeal was partially upheld," the CAS statement noted.
The International Luge Federation barred Russian athletes from competing in its sponsored tournaments since March 2022 after the escalation of the situation in Ukraine. In June 2024, the international federation opted to vote on the extension of sanctions against the Russian athletes.
On July 14, President of the Russian Luge Federation Natalia Gart announced to TASS that the federation decided to protect the rights of its national luge athletes in court. Sports Minister and President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Mikhail Degtyarev stated later on his Telegram channel that he had filed an appeal against the decision of the FIL Congress disputing the Russian athletes’ ban.
Russian lugers are now eligible to take part in the first stage of the 2025/26 Luge World Cup, that will be held from December 5-7 in Innsbruck-Igls, Austria ahead of the next year’s Olympics.
The 2026 Winter Olympic Games will be held in Italy, in the cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. The event will take place from February 6-22, 2026.
In late March, 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended international sports federations to allow individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international sports tournaments, but only under specific conditions.
Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.
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